Saskatchewan Broiler Hatching Egg Producers' Marketing Board (BHE)

This marketing board, founded on August 12, 1985, is responsible for the management of the province's supply of eggs used for hatching chicks to produce broilers, the most common type of chicken raised for human consumption. Duties of the BHE include negotiating prices with local processors and developing long-term strategies for the province's hatching egg industry. BHE membership is limited to Saskatchewan hatching egg producers with quota rights that are auctioned annually. In 2003 Saskatchewan had seventeen such producers for 176,000 hatching chickens. The BHE establishes overall quota after consultation with the Chicken Farmers of Saskatchewan Board and local processors to determine the province's hatching egg requirements. In May of 2000 the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council assigned the BHE's powers to the Minister of Agriculture; since then the Minister has appointed an administrator to oversee the board and to resolve any problems between the BHE and the CFSB stemming from a Memorandum of Understanding between the BHE and AgriFood Council to drive the Expansion Agreement of 1998.

John Chaput